Lone Wolf: Redemption
by Allard-Liao
Summary: Years after being separated from his pack, an adult wolf comes across the two united packs of Jasper National Park. Will he be accepted? If so, how will be able to interact with the other members of the pack?
1. Arrival

Chapter One

I had been wandering north for far more than a year when I arrived in Jasper Park, Canada. A few hours after I arrived, night settled and I found a clearing with a small, rocky mountain dominating the area. On and around the mountain was an entire pack of wolves, so I kept my distance, remaining at the tree line so I could see and not be seen. Thus hidden, I settled in to listen, as the entire pack appeared to be intending to howl with each other for the entire night. I snuck a step forward in order to clearly see every pair, including the Alpha pair at the mountain's peak. That was when I noticed something incredibly odd. _Is that an Omega wolf up there with the Alpha female?_ I also noticed another Alpha/Omega pairing, this time a male with an absolutely gorgeous female.

Then the pair at the peak started a howl duet, both of their voices ringing out in perfect harmony; one could tell that there were two voices howling at the same time, neither overpowering the other. That was how I liked duets; so I, stupidly, tuned out all other sounds except them and lay down to enjoy the sound.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

I yelped and jumped up into a branch. As the stars from the impact cleared from my vision, I saw an old gray Alpha male approach from the shadows. I turned to run, only to find my path blocked by another old Alpha, this one ruddy brown in color. I turned the other way and found two young Alphas and two young Omegas blocking any remaining escape. I began to back away until I backed into a tree trunk. I realized that I would be unable to escape whatever method they chose to punish my intrusion. I knew how most packs treated interloping lone wolves. As I shrunk down to make myself appear non-threatening, I shuddered as I remembered watching another lone wolf get torn apart by one of the Yellowstone packs.

After nearly half a minute of inactivity, the almost pure white, female Omega stepped forward. "Lilly! Be careful," the ruddy young Alpha objected.

"Garth, look at him. He's scared out of his wits."

"Wouldn't you be if you were trespassing on another pack's territory?" another older, female, golden-tan-furred Alpha replied as she walked up. She then locked a death glare on me and continued, "If you try anything, you'll be eating your own heart for dinner."

I gulped. A threat like that is never to be taken or delivered lightly.

All of the other wolves took a step away from the older female and looked at her with shock, or something similar, on their faces. The two younger females, one of them being one of the younger Alphas, said, "Mom!"

The Omega female turned back to me and said, "Would you like to be a member of our pack?"

Quickly, probably too quickly, I replied, "Only if the Alphas approve."

The old gray male was the first to respond. "Maybe this could work." I decided to count that as a "yes."

The tan-furred young female was next. "Sure." That made two in my favor. I realized that she was the Alpha I had seen at the peak of that mountain.

The Omega who had howled with her replied to my request third. "Well, I'd accept you with open paws." That made two Alpha "yeses," and one exuberant Omega "yes," combined with the original offer from Lilly.

I pretty much knew that I would get a "no" from the older female Alpha, so my fate resided with the old ruddy Alpha, who I assumed was Garth's father. "I guess having an extra wolf to help us hunt wouldn't hurt." I sighed in relief as I received the final, clinching "yes" vote that spared my life. He seemed a little disgusted that I had been so scared and huffed before turning and walking away.

I stood to my full quadrupedal height, but I still hung my head in respect. "I am honored that you chose to accept me into your pack."

"If you harm any of the other wolves of this pack, I will rip your tail off and shove it down your throat. If you harm either of my daughters, your tail will be followed by your eyes, ears, and heart, so you will see, hear, and feel my claws and teeth tear into your carcass," the old alpha female stated, shockingly calm, as she, too, turned to walked away.

The others stared after her as she walked away as if what she said wasn't too serious, which was something that I would have to watch out for carefully. After an awkward moment of silence, the Omega male said, "Okay…I think introductions are in order. I'm Humphrey," as he held up his paw.

I shook it and showed a small mutation that made me different from other wolves. My dewclaw was descended from its natural position, making what humans call an "opposable thumb." "Pleasure to meet you."

"And this is my mate, Kate. I like how that rhymes."

I shook hands with her. "So, how did an Omega get to have an Alpha as a mate?"

"Long story. We'll tell you later."

The old gray male cleared his throat. "My name's Winston. The female who walked off is my mate, Eve. The male who preceded her is Tony, former head-Alpha of the Eastern Pack, before they unified with us in the Western Pack."

"Remind me to not get on your wife's bad side."

"That might be impossible." We shared a laugh.

"And I already know your names, Lilly and Garth," I finished as I nodded at the two.

"Yeah, our names did come up in the conversation. But, we don't know your name," replied Garth.

"Just call me 'Outcast.' That is all I have ever been," I muttered as I lay down and lay my head on my paws.

"Come on. You must have a name," Lilly goaded.

I sighed in frustration. "I have actually had two names. But, I prefer to be called Jeremiah."

"Well then," Winston began, "welcome to the Central Pack, Jeremiah."


	2. Acceptance

Chapter Two

Lilly spoke up at that moment. "Would it be alright if Jeremiah spent the night with us?" she asked to both Winston and Garth.

They looked at each other and, after a couple of seconds, nodded. "Why not?" Winston replied. He then stepped forward and whispered in my ear, "Don't try anything funny with my daughter or my son-in-law, or you will answer to my mate."

"Y-Yes, sir," I responded with a slight squeak in my voice. I knew full well what he meant with those words.

"Well, come on, Jer," Lilly said as she turned to leave and nodded in the direction she was about to walk, Garth turning to follow.

"Already giving him a nickname, Lil?" her brother-in-law, Humphrey, queried as he began to walk back to his own den.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Just thought it odd to give a nickname to someone you only met a few minutes ago."

After a few seconds during which the two Omegas shared a laugh, I followed at a cautious pace. When we reached their den, which was dug a little bit below and beside Kate's and Humphrey's, Lilly walked up to a solid flat stone in the sleeping chamber at the back of the den, lay down, bid Garth to do the same, and asked "So. What's your story?"

"Your story first. I will tell mine tomorrow."

"Alright. Nearly a year ago, the two packs were separated into West and East. Because of a shortage of food in the East, the two packs nearly went to war with each other. To sooth tensions and unite the packs, my dad, Winston, then head-Alpha male of the Western Pack betrothed my sister, Kate, to Garth, son of the head-Alpha of the Eastern Pack, Tony," Lilly began.

"But?" I prompted, knowing that there had to have been some catch in order for the Omega sister to get the Alpha male as a mate instead of the Alpha sister.

"But, the night I met Kate, Lilly and Humphrey, Kate and Humphrey were darted by humans and carted off to Idaho as an attempt to restore the wolf population there. After a fair adventure involving hiding in human transport, getting shot at, running from bears, and riding a train, the two of them bonded. While they were off on their adventure, Lilly and I bonded as her sense of humor and sheer beauty impressed me, and my skills as an Alpha impressed her," Garth said as he picked up the story.

"Don't forget your howl," Lilly objected.

"What about it?" I asked.

Garth looked sheepish and embarrassed as he answered, "It was terrible."

"Yeah, I feel sorry for all the birds that got stunned because of your practice howls before I helped you get it right."

"Yeah," Garth said as the two of them shared a laugh about that. I simply smiled. "But, anyway. After Lilly helped me learn to howl, my dad still wanted me to marry Kate. Neither of us wanted to, as I loved Lilly and Kate loved Humphrey. I felt vindicated when Kate admitted that she loved outside her rank, and, after nearly losing both packs to a short battle and a caribou stampede, Winston, Eve, and Tony agreed to allow both of us to pursue love as we saw fit."

"Now, it doesn't matter what rank one wolf is to love and marry another," Lilly finished as she nuzzled Garth. "Now you might want to get some rest. You're going to meet the rest of the pack tomorrow," she added as an afterthought as she shut her eyes to go to sleep.

"Yeah. Some of us could use some sleep," I muttered as I lay my own head on my paws.

"You sure you don't want to sleep nearer the back of the den, where it's warmer?" Garth asked.

"I am sure."

"Suit yourself," he finished as he laid his head on Lilly's back and fell into the arms of sleep.

I emitted a little amused huff as I turned my head to look out at the moon, currently rising in the East. _Not bad. I guess that I could get used to being a member of a pack._


	3. First Hunt

Chapter Three

I was always an early riser, so, when I awoke as the sky began to change color for the coming sunrise, I was fully rested and ready go move. And move I did; I strolled through the Central Pack's territory, studying the terrain, gaining an understanding of the lay of the land. I walked along a rise and spotted a small herd of caribou. Knowing that, if I was to prove my worth to the pack, I had to help hunt, I settled down to wait for whatever hunting party was to come from the pack. An hour later, it arrived as dawn broke.

Leading the group was someone I should have expected: Kate. She had two male wolves with her, both of them Alphas, apparently (from what evidence I had) one from each half of the united pack. By this time, most of the caribou had moved further down the valley. Three remained, having not gotten their fill of grass. I went into motion, leaping over the edge and sliding down the cliff, digging my claws into the dirt to slow my descent. I then moved to the cover of a log that seemed to me most likely to be in the drive path of the hunting group. Once there, I watched and waited. About thirty seconds later, the hunt group went into action. The three caribou panicked and began running; the direction they ran happened to be straight to me. I mentally counted down the seconds until they were in range and then I pounced.

The central caribou was the first to reach my position and it reared up in fear as it saw a fourth wolf blocking its path. I wasted no time as I leapt for the brute's throat. As I latched on, I twisted around and kicked off toward the second caribou, which had continued running, tearing the first caribou's throat out. I left it to choke on its own blood as I leapt onto the second caribou's neck. I swung around and hooked my claws into the second's throat before jumping off and slitting its throat. I landed on the third one's back and rammed my claws into the back of its neck where the spine met the skull and tore out the first vertebra. It dropped like a stone. I, almost daintily, stepped off of its back as the other two dropped. Having made such a stylish impression, I sat and waited for the hunt group to catch up.

The former Western Pack Alpha male was the first to arrive. As Kate approached a second later, he commented, "Dude. He just about puts you to shame, Kate."

"Can it, Can-do." She stepped toward me. "What are you doing here, Jeremiah?"

"I believe that I have begun to prove myself worthy to earn a place in this pack," I replied as I bowed and swept my paw across my chest.

When the former Eastern Pack Alpha moved up, he stated, "Figures that a lone wolf would have come up with his own methods for taking down game by himself. But, how would you perform in a team?"

"I would not know. I have never had the opportunity."

"Of course. A lone wolf wouldn't know what it's like to hunt with a pack."

"I was not always a lone wolf, you…"

"Cool it. Both of you," Kate growled as she stomped on the ground.

I backed down from the argument and decided to change the subject. "Let us get these carcasses home. What say you?"

The two male Alphas looked at each other and grudgingly said, "All right." They stepped forward and grabbed two legs of the largest of the three caribou, the first one I had taken down.

Kate and I each grabbed the throat of one of the other two. When we walked back to the main pack's gathering area, we were greeted by a variety of reactions, ranging from shock at my presence with the hunting party to happiness at the fact that we brought three caribou for the pack to eat. As the pack converged for the apportionment of which member got what meat, I sat to the side and waited for the rest of the pack to finish.

As I waited, Lilly walked up. "Why didn't you tell us that you were an early riser? We were worried sick when we woke up and you weren't there."

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I have always risen with the sun."

"So. You promised to tell us your life story today."

"Yes, I did. Well, I was planning to tell it to the whole pack at once so that I would not have to repeat it about a dozen times, but I guess that I will." I then proceeded to tell her my life story.


	4. History Revealed

Chapter Four

"I was born to one of the far northern packs, the Northwest Glacier Bay Pack. I was only a month and a half old when I first became a lone wolf. My older brother, Lloyd, one of the best Alphas in our pack, was showing me some of what he had learned in Alpha School. I was to head to Alpha School in a few months, but he wanted to give me a head start."

(Flashback)

"Well, little bro, what would you like to see first?"

"I don't know. What did you have in mind?"

"Let's see…I know."

He leapt forward and grabbed an overhanging tree root in his jaws. He spun halfway around it and let go, catapulting himself almost ten feet further up. The instant he touched the rock, he kicked off onto a nearby tree branch and used it to springboard up to the top of the cliff that was in front of us. He arrived on all fours in a flawless ten-point landing.

He looked back down to me and asked, "How was that?"

"Wow," was the only word I could breath out in response.

"Would you like to try?"

"I'll only end up doing belly-flops on the ground. We both know that."

He leapt down, catching small little outcroppings of rock as he went. When he landed right in front of me, he grabbed my forepaw and said, "You have characteristics that no other wolf has," as he turned my paw over and pointed at the overlong dewclaw. "Those open up whole new avenues of movement that even I could not hope to try, much less accomplish. Go for it. I'll be right behind you, little brother."

With my confidence thus inflated, I jumped for the exposed root and grabbed on with my forepaws. I flipped myself up and pushed off of the root, heading for the tree. I almost missed the tree, but I managed to catch hold of the lowest branch and momentum carried my feet up onto the same branch. I then decided to put my unique dewclaws through their fullest paces, as I began climbing up the tree as only a primate could. I reached the highest branch that would hold my weight and leapt from it to the top of the cliff. My jump was a couple of feet short, but I was able to clamber the rest of the way. A second later, my brother tossed himself up next to me.

"Not bad. In fact, I'd say that you're a natural."

"Thanks."

He opened his mouth to speak when he heard a sound that my ears were not trained to hear. "Down!" he yelled as a sharp crack, similar to a dulled version of thunder when it is right above you, resounded around us.

He then yelped as something small punched into his thigh and threw him to the ground. "Lloyd!"

"Run! Don't stop. I'll hold him off," he growled out through gritted teeth. When I failed to move, he continued, "I can buy you the time that you need to get away, but I won't make it. If something were to happen to you, I'd never forgive myself. Go!" When he saw my look of worry, he stood up and finished, "I'll be alright. Go." Then he began limping toward the source of the crack, favoring the injured leg, and I could see blood trickle from, what looked like, an insignificantly small wound.

Not wanting to see what happened next, I tore off in the other direction, not caring where exactly I was going. As I ran, I heard a second crack and a weak yelp. With that, I knew that my brother was dead. I stopped for a second, hoping against truth that Lloyd would come bounding out of the bushes in perfect health, before I turned and continued running. It began to rain, and I sought shelter in the hollow underneath an old tree root. The next morning, I continued, though at a far slower, sorrowful pace. A little pick-me-up reached my nose after a couple of hours: deer meat. I figured that I would go, grab a quick breakfast, and then run back to the pack to tell them what had happened. As it turned out, the smell of deer meat was a human family's meal beginning to cook. Also, my arrival was noticed by a seven-year-old girl: Katherine.

"Awww, what a cute little puppy!" she exclaimed. Before I knew what was happening, she had scooped me up in her arms and hugged me close, petting me almost too vigorously. Then her parents came out to see what their daughter was talking about. "Mommy, Daddy, look what I found!" she explained as she held me up for their inspection.

"Hmmm. You found yourself a wolf cub. Odd for it to be traveling alone," her dad, a biologist, noted.

"Can we keep him? Pleeeeeeeaaaase?" Katherine pleaded.

"Well, I don't know if we'll be allowed…" Her father began, but Kat dilated her eyes and made herself look pitiful. "Oh, all right. We'll claim that he's only **part **wolf."

I did take a little offense to that, but, since it meant the difference between staying alive and being left to die, I tolerated the lie.

Kat whooped with joy as she got a pet wolf. Her family snuck me to their home, and I was quickly acquainted with their home. It wasn't too large, but it was still a home. They also lived in Northwestern Wyoming, so they practically had Yellowstone National Park as their back yard. I quickly adjusted to my new lifestyle. She was a little girly, but she had an utter fascination with wolves and werewolves (creatures that had split lives between men and wolves) and, thus, I was practically a dream come true for her. I was able to walk on my hind legs, like most wolves, but, strangely, I preferred to walk upright more than on all fours, which made her all the happier to have me with her, as I could imitate a werewolf when she wanted me to. I did learn two other things from her: complicated dances and the ability to fully comprehend human language. We would often wile away many evenings through me dancing with her. My almost human hand-like forepaws made it possible to dance like a human would when I grew as large as she was; she often fantasized that she was dancing with a nice werewolf when she was dancing with me. My life with her was not to last, however. Only a year after she had adopted me, she fell ill and died. Her older brother, thinking that my presence was the cause, chased me out of the house and into the wilds of Yellowstone.

My almost-unnatural forepaw design and the year I had spent among humans branded me as something less than a wolf in the eyes of all of Yellowstone Park's packs. They shunned me and told me to keep moving or they would kill me. I headed north and received the same treatment from every wolf pack I came across. Another lone wolf had joined me for a short duration, but he pressed his luck a little too far and ended up being executed by one of the packs just south of the national border.

(End Flashback)

"After two years of wandering north, I arrived here and you guys know the rest," I said to end my story. "Also, she was the one who named me 'Jeremiah.'"


	5. New Life

Chapter Five

"So, you were practically driven from your pack by a hunter, a human girl saved you and no packs, until ours, would take you in because of that fact?" Lilly asked, hoping that she had gotten her summary correct.

"In a nutshell."

Just then, Kate walked up. "What Jordan said earlier is something you have to remember. You have to learn to work with everyone else."

"Why is she telling you this?" Garth asked, slightly concerned that a head-Alpha was admonishing me.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "I took down all three of those caribou."

"Dude! Score." He held up his paw for the wolf version of a "fist-bump."

"Garth! We do not want to encourage loner behavior."

"Hey! I was just kidding."

Kate put her paw over her eyes and said, "I think that you're being a little too influenced by Lilly and the other Omegas. They are the ones who kid."

Lilly and I were just sitting back and giggling throughout their exchange.

I sighed after a few seconds and said, "Alphas are so uptight, aren't they?"

"Indeed they are," Lilly replied as she swept some fur away from her eyes, giving me a chance to see how gorgeous her lavender eyes were.

"I can see why Garth fell in love with you," I muttered appreciatively.

"Really?"

"Indeed. Some people say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. If that is true, then you have the purest, warmest, kindest soul I have ever seen."

"Awww…" she replied as she blushed (hard to see through her fur) and turned her head away in embarrassment.

"You and Garth will certainly have a long and joyous relationship for as long as you both shall live."

I had been with the Central Pack for a season when one of the most momentous events of my life with them happened. I was lying down in my den (for I had been assigned one after I had earned my place) getting ready to go to sleep when Garth darted in from his and Lilly's den just a few slots up-valley.

"Jer! Lilly wants you to come. Quickly." I'd already gotten used to the nickname the pack had given me. Before I had a chance to ask why, he had darted out of my den and back toward his own den. Whatever the event was, he was certainly excited about the fact that it was about to occur. I picked myself up off of the floor of my den and walked out to where Garth was waiting. I followed him to the mouth of his den, where a small crowd was already gathering. He was gently nudging other wolves out of the way, saying, "Pardon me. Alpha guest of honor coming through." During those three months, the pack had determined that I was worthy of an Alpha slot in the pack.

I followed in the path Garth carved for me, shaking my head at the respect he showed (undeserved respect, in my opinion). Once I cleared the crowd, I saw Lilly, who was lying partially on her back, supported by Eve and Kate, on the sleeping rock at the back of the den. As I walked along the edge of the den (approaching, but giving the lady of honor her personal space), Lilly yelped in pain and then said, as she noticed me, "Jer! You made it! That alone helps."

She yelped again and Eve said, "I'm going to need you to breath and push, dear."

It was then that I realized what the occasion was. Garth and Lilly were about to become parents. With all innocence, I asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Eve fixed me with a death glare for a second, and then her look softened. "Actually, there is something you could do." She pointed at the blood-soaked plant matter Lilly was lying on. "Could you get me some more pine branches?"

"Yes, ma'am," I said as I turned and began to run out of the den. Shoving my through the crowd, sometimes hopping on their backs, I managed to get to a rather mighty pine tree in a couple of minutes. I leapt into the tree and began to pluck the new-growth branches, knowing that they would have the softest needles. Once I had picked as many branches as I could carry, I ran back on two legs, again hopping onto and running along the backs of the wolves crowding the entrance to the den. I dropped down off of the last wolf in the crowd and crawled on my upper knees in order to fit and, simultaneously, not drop a single branch.

"Just lay them here," Eve absently said to me as she cleared away the bloody branches.

I complied and arranged the new branches such that only the needles would be in contact with Lilly's body. Hey, I may be a lone wolf, but I am most certainly not a brute. In fact, I have a very large, compassionate heart, especially in reference to the females and the youth. After arranging the branches, I stood and walked a couple of steps to the edge of the sleeping area, which was tall enough to accommodate me standing to my full height on my hind legs.

It turned out that I had delivered the new pine needles just in time. Lilly screamed in pain as blood began pouring out of her birth canal, as did a little, round shape. I turned my head away and covered my eyes at this point, not out of squeamishness, but out of respect for her privacy. A few minutes later, she quieted down to moaning pants from the effort, and she was joined by three little yips. I risked looking back, just in time for Eve to say, "Could you hold her?" as she held out a little wolf pup out to me.

I really had no choice, so I held out my paws and gently cradled Lilly and Garth's daughter. I slowly sat down and held the little pup close. Looking down into her face as she slowly settled down, I asked, "What did you plan to name her?"

Garth had a blank look for a moment before he looked to Lilly for the answer, showing that he had given no thought to that matter. Lilly recovered from the exhaustion of pushing out triplets and replied, "Heather." I smiled and looked down at the puppy, who was descending into sleep. "Welcome to the world, Heather," I whispered.

"And I have already thought of her brothers' names." She pointed at the little white-furred puppy Garth held who, strangely, had already opened his sea-green eyes. "Jasper, after the name of our home." Then she looked at the mixed ruddy-brown and white male in her lap and said, "Lloyd, after your brother, Jer."

I looked up at her, speechless. No matter what I tried to think of, nothing would come out. So, I had no reply to give her throughout the remainder of the night.


	6. Captured

Chapter Six

One Year Later

"Lean left!" Humphrey shouted.

The other two of us in the log complied promptly, just in time to steer around a tree. I looked ahead and saw a rather sizeable field of rocks. "Aw, man. We should have brought Mooch."

"Grab the tree, on your right."

_Duh_. I mentally slapped myself for not thinking of that. I dug my claws into said tree and we swung around the tree, sling-shotting around and past the rock field. I then felt an ache in my shoulder. "Ugh. I think I pulled something." I put my foreleg through some rotations to try to realign the musculature.

"Get ready. We're gonna fly!" Humphrey shouted a second before we launched off of a cliff. "Hang ten!" We all performed our own stunt maneuvers. I did a handstand and, as I was facing backward, I could not see what my companions were doing. When we came back onto the log and hit the ground, we saw a big problem. "Bail out!" Humphrey yelled out just before he did so. My remaining companion did so immediately after, but I decided to be a daredevil. At the last second, I leapt up and landed in a single-hand stand on the boulder just as the half-log we were riding splintered against the former. As I leaned off and landed on the other side, the Omega male shouted, "Show-off!"

We then noticed that our companion was lying against a tree trunk, unmoving. I ran over and queried worriedly, "Heather? Are you all right? Heather?"

"Boo!" she shouted as she sprang to her feet. As both Humphrey and I jumped at the unexpected reaction, she giggled, "Gotcha."

I breathed a large sigh of relief and replied, "Indeed you did. You certainly inherited your mother's jokester personality." I patted her on the head. "It is just that I swore to your mother that I would not let you come to harm, and I intend to see that promise through to my death."

"Jeremiah. Heather."

We both looked toward the new arrival. "Hey, Grandpa."

"Time to go. Both of you."

"Oh yeah. We will be there in a few minutes."

"You had better be," Winston said as he turned and left.

As Heather and I began to follow, Humphrey sputtered, "W-wait. Where are you two going?"

"Alpha School. Heather is now old enough and I never went and, thus, never formally learned Alpha skills."

"Oh. Well, see you two in a few months."

"See you too, Humphrey."

Then we left for our, I knew, grueling training regimen.

Three months later, we were ready to graduate. In fact, we were on the eve of graduation when I asked Heather to come away with me to a small, secluded clearing.

"Heather, there is something I have wanted to tell you ever since you opened your gorgeous lavender eyes, so much like your mother's." I brushed a forepaw through the red-and-white fur of her mane. "Heck, I have wanted to tell you this since the day you were born."

She put her forepaw on the tip of my muzzle, a signal to shush. "You don't need to say a word," she said before touching the tip of her muzzle to the tip of mine.

I was extremely surprised; I had assumed that she would be shy, like her mother, and wait for me to make the first move. But she was more like her aunt, Kate. She, somehow, knew that I loved her, and she loved me as well. I closed my eyes and turned my muzzle down, causing her to do the same until our foreheads met.

"I love you," we both said at the same time.

We then heard someone clearing his throat and parted quickly. We looked at the newcomer and saw both Garth and Lilly. I gulped, knowing that I had not asked for their approval. Heather simply said, "Awww, Mom, Dad, couldn't you two have waited a few minutes?"

Garth simply shook his head. "You two had us worried. When we saw that you were not having your last partying hurrah before you formally assumed the duties of Alphas, we thought that you had been injured or something else terrible."

Lilly continued, "Instead, we find you two in this tranquil clearing, sharing your feelings for each other. I approve. Now, before the others get worried, especially my mom, let's rejoin the others." She then turned to walk off, Garth and Heather in tow.

I began to follow when I felt a pinprick of pain in my hindquarters, right next to the base of my tail. I thought nothing of it until, a few seconds later, I found myself unable to walk straight for several steps before collapsing, as my muscles refused to respond. "What…is…happening?" I could tell that the drug was taking effect because my speech was slurring.

"Jer! Are you alright?" Lilly asked as she ran up.

I tried to answer, but now even my vocal cords refused to respond. As my vision began to go black, I heard a two yelps and saw a tranquilizer dart embed itself in Lilly's shoulder. _No_, was my last thought before falling unconscious.

Who knew how much time passed before I woke up? I gradually came back to my full senses and stood; before I bumped my head on the roof of the steel box I was in. "Crap," I muttered as I massaged the spot that I had hit.

I then heard groaning, and a male voice muttered, "What happened?"

"Garth? Is that you?"

"Jer! What's going on?"

"I think that the same thing that happened to Kate and Humphrey two years ago is about to happen to us."

"Well, at least we're with friends."

Then Heather's voice broke in. "Ugh. Where are we?"

"Ummm…" I began as I turned to look out of the air holes in the box. What I saw was a large expanse of water, which made my eyes go wide with suspicion. "Garth, Heather, look out of your boxes and tell me what you see, please."

"Lots of pine trees and rather shiny black rocks. Why do you ask?"

I slumped against the back of my box and slid down into a sitting position. "I'm home. We're in Glacier Bay."


	7. Reunion

Chapter Seven

Our cages were unloaded a few minutes later and we ran off as a group, keeping close. After a few minutes, we came to a short cliff with a tall pine tree growing about a dozen feet away. I held up my forepaw to tell the others to stop.

"Is this—?" Lilly began.

I nodded. "This is where it happened that day." I walked up to the very edge of the cliff, stood on my hind legs, and hopped over the edge. I dug my claws in and slid down to the valley floor below. The others came down in a similar manner to how my brother had over four years earlier. I led them on to the border of Northwest pack territory. There, I signaled for the others to stop. I then let out the pack pass-howl as I remembered it. "Awooooo-hoooooooooooo." It looped once, lasted two and a half seconds per loop, and each loop started high before deepening two-thirds of the way through.

When I finished, I waited for nearly twenty seconds. Then came the answering howl, exactly as I remembered it, which meant that it was one of the older Alphas was on patrol. I walked slowly forward, head and tail held low, the others following suit. Within seconds, the old black-and-gray Alpha walked into view. "Who are you and how do you know one of our old identifier howls?"

"Hello, Francis. You have not changed much since we last saw each other," I said with a nice charm.

He looked taken aback for nearly a minute before he recognized me. "Richard?"

I bowed. "Lost for four years, the prodigal son returns. Only, the name is now Jeremiah."

We ran forward and hugged each other. "We all thought you were dead. The pack'll be happy to see that you've simply bailed on us this whole time. And who are these three?"

"My best friends from the Jasper Park Central Pack. Heather, Lilly, and Garth."

"Ah, we'd heard rumors that the two major packs of Jasper had united, but now I see proof. Jeremiah, friends of yours are welcome here." He turned and began to lead us to the pack's main gathering area. "You'll find that things have changed a bit around here, but your dad'll be able to explain it better."

"He's still alive after this long?"

"Sure is, and he's still going as strong as ever."

"Glad to hear that."

After a few minutes, we walked into view of the main pack. Up at the apex of a small hill, in a similar manner to Winston and Eve's den back in Jasper, was the head Alphas' den. Francis led us to it, looked in, and said, "Sir, you have a very important visitor."

The Northwest Pack's head Alpha male walked out and his eyes went wide as they settled on me. "Richard!" he shouted with joy as he pounced on me, knocking me onto my back.

"Glad to see you again, too, Dad." As he got off and allowed me to get upright, I continued, "Guys, this is Churchill, my father and head Alpha male of the Northwest Glacier Park Pack. Dad, this is Lilly and Garth, current co-head Alphas of the Central Jasper Park Pack and their daughter, Heather."

My father walked forward and examined the three of them. He stopped in front of Garth and Lilly and asked, "How did such a breach of pack law occur?"

They seemed confused for a moment until I discreetly got their attention, pointed at the both of them, and then hooked my paws together. They then proceeded to tell of how Kate and Humphrey had been kidnapped by humans to repopulate the Sawtooth National Wilderness in Idaho and what had occurred in the duration until the two of them returned.

"Interesting. True love being acknowledged over rank. That is indeed a novel concept."

"So, Dad. How has the pack history been forced to update during my absence?"

His expression darkened. "Come with me."


	8. Desperate Times

Chapter Eight

That was not good when he answered a question with an order. I followed and he showed me around the pack's sleeping areas. I looked at the dens and noticed that a disturbing number, all but about a dozen, appeared to have been in disuse for years. "What happened?"

"Shortly after you disappeared, one of our old foes thought that we were weak enough to destroy."

"Lionel's pack?"

He nodded. "He gathered all of his wolves, even a fair number of his juveniles, and attacked in force, trying to slay us all."

"I would gather that he did not succeed."

"No. He did not. But he nearly did. Only fourteen of us survived." He nodded back to his den and added, "One of the ones who survived has been dieing to see you since you disappeared."

I followed, wondering who could want to see me more than my own father. When we reached the mouth, he gestured inside. I walked in and my heart leapt into my throat. "Lloyd?"

My old brother got up and started limping over to me, a smile on his face and tears welling up in his one remaining golden eye. "It's true. You did come back."

I rushed up and hugged him, being careful to avoid the old injuries. "I thought you were dead," I sobbed.

"It'll take more that just two bullets to put me out of commission, little brother," he quipped. I pulled back and he continued, "After you ran, I leapt at the hunter. He was so surprised at my fierceness that he didn't aim properly. His last shot took my eye. Then my jaws were around his throat, and I bit down. He went quietly. By the time we were able to mount a search for you, you were gone. Then Lionel attacked."

"Speaking thus, what happened to him?"

"This way." He limped deeper into the den.

"That bullet to your hip damaged the joint, didn't it?"

"Yes. Now, through here." He parted a curtain of leaves to reveal a separate chamber.

I immediately started growling. The chamber's lone occupant looked up at me weakly. "You? You were dead."

"As you will be, Lionel," I snarled.

He sighed and bared his neck. "Go on, then."

I stalked forward and placed my jaws around his throat. I hesitated, and then pulled back to fully examine the emaciated wolf. He might have been twice my weight if he was at his full strength, but, now, he could barely be more than two-thirds the wolf I was. I looked him in the eyes and saw that there was no spirit, no fire, no fight left in him. I sighed and lifted the rocks off of his forepaws. "Get up."

"What are you doing?"

Lionel supplied the answer, his voice ragged and tired from disuse. "He knows that I am beaten, that I am no longer a threat."

"Indeed. He may have been our rival, but he is still our brother. Come. Both of you."

Our older brother tried to stand and got to three legs before he began to collapse. I quickly rushed to his side and helped prop him up. His head lolled toward me, and he whispered, "You know that you don't have to forgive me."

"I never said I did, but my time away from my home Pack has taught me to take care of my family."

"How noble."


	9. Require Desperate Measures

Chapter Nine

We then walked, or rather limped, out of the den. My father looked at me with a queer, questioning look, but he remained silent. Lilly, being the most caring of the wolves that was here, stepped forward to take the burden of Lionel's weight. I thanked her for it, walked up to my dad, and whispered, "I would like you to call a pack meeting right now, please."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I would prefer to tell everyone at once."

"Fine." He lifted his head and howled for the pack to gather. It only took little more than a minute for them to do so and, when they did, he announced, "As some of you may know, after going missing for four years, my son has returned. Now, he has an announcement."

He stepped back, and I stepped forward and looked over the assembled wolves. They did not even number twenty, and a third of them were only pups. I cleared my throat and began, "Some of you older Alpha-ranked wolves may know that we are now too few to effectively defend our territory from any threat. However, I know of a way for a struggling pack to survive: unite with another pack."

"Get to your point already," one of the younger male Alphas interjected.

"I propose that we move and unite with the Central Pack of Jasper National Park." I turned to my father and asked, "Do you approve?"

He gave a small smile and replied, "You are indeed my son, putting the pack's welfare first with solutions that you see. I do approve." He walked up to the same spot that I had used to deliver my speech and spoke to the pack. "I will give you four days to prepare what you need to bring for the journey." There was some grumbling, but the pack went to get ready to leave Glacier Bay for good. They did not complain; my dad's word was law. He turned to me and said, "I hope that you know what you are doing."

"Me too, Dad."

Lionel coughed and spoke up, "I'm glad that we aren't moving immediately. I'll need some time to recover before I can go anywhere without being a burden."

"You're not coming," my dad said sternly.

Remember how I said that my dad's word was law? I broke it here; I lay a paw on my father's shoulder and said, "Dad, I would like him to come."

He stared daggers at me for several seconds before relenting. "Alright. But he is your responsibility. If he kills someone, it will be your paws that their blood is on," he said as he walked away.

"Thanks."

Garth cleared his throat. "Um…Why does your dad hate this wolf so much?"

"Lionel was his first child. He decided to go and start his own pack at a year old—"

"Year and a half," my oldest brother corrected.

"Year and a half old, just after he completed Alpha school. I do not know all of the details, but, at some point, he decided to conquer my father's pack. He simply was waiting for a good opportunity for his assault to have a chance."

"The day you were forced to run away by the hunter."

"Yes. I thought that, between the crippling of one heir and the presumed death of another, Churchill and his entire pack would be so weak with mourning that they would be unable to hold off a full-strength attack," Lionel explained. He then hung his head. "I was wrong. I lost my entire pack, even my wife, son, and daughter. I was too foolish to know when to cut my losses and run. I didn't even try until I was the only one left who was able to move, and by then, it was too late. I waited for Church to kill me, but the love of a father managed to win out."

I cleared my throat. "Let us get some rest. We will need our strength for when we begin our journey to Jasper."

That night, Lionel was out like a light, but I could not bring myself to fall asleep. Then, I heard a duet howl that was almost as beautiful, because of its harmony, as Kate and Humphrey's duets. I got up and walked out of the den, following the sound of the duet. After a few minutes, I found the source, one boy and one girl howling at the full moon. I lay down, crossed my forepaws, and listened. Several minutes later, the two singers finished and touched their foreheads together.

All but ruining the moment, I stood up on two legs and began to applaud. When the two looked toward me, I complemented, "If I were to hear your howl as it once was, based on your description, I would not think that it was the same wolf howling, Garth."

"Well, personality-wise, I was a different wolf back then," he admitted as he cast an admiring glance at Lilly. "Thanks for making me the wolf I am, Lilly,"

"Awww…" she said as she blushed, turned her head away, and batted her eyelids.

"You don't have to be embarrassed, Mom." We all whipped around at the sound of Heather's voice. None of us had heard her approach. "Mind if I join in the howling?"

"Not at all. Garth, let's leave them to their howling," Lilly said as she began to walk down toward my father's den, as he was allowing us to use it for our sleeping quarters, with Garth following.

Daughter and friend watched them go. After the two of them were out of sight, I turned to her and asked, "Would you care to howl with me?"

"Of course. I would like nothing better."

"Would you like to start, or shall I?"

"You start, and I'll join in."

"Just like when your parents first howled together, eh?" And, with that, I started howling to the moon.

When she joined in, however, I immediately shut up, not wanting to sully her stunningly elegant howl with my own monotone howl. She stopped and asked why I had. I told her truthfully, and she replied, "Your howl, with its simplicity, has its own elegance that will not spoil mine."

I smiled and gently grabbed her chin, lifting her face so I could look directly into her eyes. I licked her muzzle and expressed my gratitude by saying, "You are so like your mother in so many ways, Heather. Thank you for your vote of confidence." I released her chin and resumed my howl. This time, when she joined in, I focused on the harmony and found that she varied her tone to, all but literally, weave her howl into mine. Surprisingly enough, the blend was flawless and unspeakably beautiful.

We howled like that for several minutes. When we finished, she looked at me and said, "Thank you for the howl."

"Thank you for finding the beauty in mine," I replied as I grabbed it and pressed the top of it to the tip of my muzzle, mimicking a gesture that I had seen human males make to human females. I then, before I ended up embarrassing myself, walked back to the den. I lay down near the entrance and went to sleep.

I woke up the next morning with a slight pressure on the tip of my nose. I opened my eyes and saw Heather lying down in front of me, nose touching mine and a smile on her muzzle. "Oh, that is just gross," Lionel complained as he covered his eyes with his paws. His small half-smile betrayed the fact that he was secretly pleased for me.

I was then distracted by a new voice from my past saying, "Richard?"

My head whipped around in recognition of the voice. "Katrina?"

The blood-furred and cream-bellied she-wolf with sky-blue eyes was as pretty as ever. Heather brought up a necessary question. "If she is an old friend, will she interfere with our relationship?"

"No, sadly, I already have a mate. An Omega like me."

"Who?"

"Montgomery."

I laughed, feigning disapproval, but having an approving smile. "Him? It is amazing that he decided to choose you from all of the eligible females that we had."

She played along, feigning being emotionally hurt by the comment. "As a matter of fact, they all turned him down, so he was stuck with me."

We tried to keep straight faces, but we both fell apart laughing, as we both knew that we were teasing each other extremely heavily. Montgomery had been the most eligible bachelor among the pack's Omegas before I had been forced to leave the area. "Ah. You are still as funny as ever, Katrina."

"And you still have the sense of humor you gained through our friendship."

"Ah, yes. Proper introductions. Heather, this is Katrina, my best friend since we were mere pups. Katrina, this is Heather, my best friend in the Central Pack from Jasper Park."

"Way I found you two, I'd say that you're a little more than friends," she replied with a wily, knowing smile.

"Eh, true…"

Before I could continue, a young wolf stuck his head in the entrance and asked, "Was this the wolf you were in love with, Mom?" As Katrina blushed and turned away, he added, "Dad's way better."

I gasped dramatically, stood, put my hand over my heart, spun, and dropped to the ground on my back, sticking my tongue out the side of my mouth and playing dead.

That elicited laughs from everyone in the den, including both of my brothers, Garth, and Lilly, all of whom had just woken up. Katrina, once she was able to stop laughing, said, "I'm surprised that you weren't classified as an Omega."

"Well, my sense of humor was something I have acquired over the years during my separation from the pack. If you do not have a sense of humor when you are alone in the world, you go insane." I gestured to Lilly and added, "Also, I have associated with Omegas for far too much time." I turned back to Katrina and proposed, "Care to take a walk, Kat? Reminisce about old times?"

"Sure."


	10. Pain and Sacrifice

Chapter Ten

Lionel, Lloyd, and Heather each asked to come along, and Katrina and I agreed to let them come. After a few minutes of silence, I stated my reason for the walk. "I did not want to ask Dad this, so I will ask you. Why did Mom not come to greet me?"

My brothers turned their heads downward, but they made no effort to answer. Katrina was the one who replied, "She died. A week after you left." I hung my head in despair and, anticipating my next question, she added, "Broken heart."

"Did she suffer?"

"Unfortunately."

I walked away, hanging my head and tail. The sky turned gray and began drizzling in accord with my mood. I began muttering a song to myself.

"In this farewell, there's no blood, there's no alibi. 'Cause I've drawn regret from the truth of a thousand lies. So let mercy come and wash away what I've done…"

I was crying by this point and the rain began to fall harder. I somehow managed to get back to the den, where I cried myself to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of laughter. I got up and walked to the mouth of the den. Laying down at the edge of the speaking platform, I observed Lilly talking to a group of wolves from my father's pack. "What am I?" She got down on her belly and began using her front legs to drag herself forward, sweeping them to the side. No one was able to get it, so she explained, "It's a turtle dragging itself to water."

That elicited a number of laughs as they realized just how plain to see the answer was. I, myself, chuckled quietly. "Hey. Look who finally woke up," Francis said.

Lilly turned and walked up the slope to me. "I'm sorry about your mom," she consoled as she laid a paw over my shoulders.

I shrugged it off. "The pain I feel is something that can never heal. It would be as if you had lost Kate, or Garth, or Eve before you really got to know them. It would the same if Heather lost you, right now." I turned my head away as tears began to well up in my eyes again.

She walked around to look me in the eyes, laying her paw against the side of my muzzle to prevent me from looking away. "I already know that pain." I looked at her as if she was crazy. "You may have noticed that I look almost nothing like my parents or Kate." I nodded. "That's because I'm adopted. Winston told me that it was just after Kate was born. He said that he had been patrolling Western territory when he found two lone wolves, one dead, one dying. The body of a hunter was lying underneath the dead wolf. He turned to run and get help, but he was stopped cold by the cry of a little pup. He investigated and found a little, almost newborn, female wolf lying next to the dying wolf. The dying wolf, the pup's mother, awoke and grabbed his ankle with a weak paw. She charged him, 'Take…my…daughter. Keep…her…safe.' Then she looked at the pup and muttered, 'Lilly,' before expiring from a bullet wound to her back. Winston examined me for a second before he picked me up by the scruff of the neck and took me to his den as his adopted daughter."

I could only stare at her, wide-eyed, as she told the story. "I-I-I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"Very few do."

"Kate?" Lilly nodded. "Garth?" She shook her head. "Humphrey and the other Omegas?" Another shake. "Hutch and the other Alphas?" Still another shake of her head. "Heather, Jasper, and Lloyd?"

She was about to shake her head again when a familiar voice refuted, "Only my brothers don't."

Lilly spun at Heather's voice. "I'm s—…"

"There's no need to apologize, Mom. After all, you weren't the one who killed your parents, leaving you orphaned. Let go of the past, live for the future," Heather admonished gently as she walked up to sit beside me. "And the same applies to you, Jer," she added as she nuzzled my cheek.

"Thanks." The wind then suddenly changed direction, bringing with it a new scent. I raised my nose and sniffed, catching a scent I had never wanted to smell again: gunpowder. My eyes went wide as I said, "We have to leave. Now!"

"What's wrong?"

"Hunters." I raised my head and howled a warning to the pack, hoping that they were all in earshot.

My father was the first to arrive. "What is the matter, Jeremiah?" Even he had gotten used to my name change.

"Hunters, Dad."

We both knew what that meant. When the rest of the pack arrived, he began barking orders. "We have hunters on our territory. Whatever you need that you can gather in five minutes, get it. Everything else, you leave behind. Meet back here in five minutes, and we will begin our exodus. Move it."

We then heard distant baying. "Bloodhounds. They have damn hunting dogs, one of the best breeds. They can track prey through scent better than we can."

"How do you know?" Heather asked, having never seen a bloodhound.

"I lived with humans for a year, remember?"

"Right, right."

I ran into the den and woke Lloyd and Lionel, who had somehow slept through the sunrise and my warning howl. "What's going on?"

"Hunters. Grab what you need, and let's go."

Lloyd blanched. He grabbed up a stolen human satchel and loaded a pair of moose thighs in it, muttering the whole time, "Not again, not again." His paw absently went to his empty, broken eye socket every once in a while. Once, he rubbed the area of his hip that had been struck by the bullet.

Lionel said nothing, did nothing; he just sat, staring at us and at his paws, as if he were a prisoner about to be executed.

The five minutes went by rather quickly, and we set off. I did a quick headcount. Including me, Heather, Lilly, and Garth, there were only twenty-five wolves; of them, nine were mere pups. We traveled slowly, enabling the pups to keep pace.

Then, twenty-two minutes in, a rifle round soared over us. Lionel turned toward it and ordered, his face stony and his voice flat, "Go." Without waiting for any reply, he began walking toward the hunter.

Not wanting to be shot, the entire pack began to hurry. I ran about fifty feet before I stopped. Shuddering in anger, I stated to myself, "No. I abandoned one brother to a hunter. I will not abandon another."

I turned and ran back to help my eldest brother, ignoring the cries of "Are you crazy?" and "Stop! Come back!"

About twenty feet from the convoy, I found the first drops of blood. I followed the trail to find a dead bloodhound, its throat torn out. A few feet further on was another one, this one with its skull compressed from top to bottom. I chuckled morbidly, "Never mess with a head Alpha." I continued following the trail of blood and found Lionel, bleeding from nearly half-a-dozen bite wounds, lying against a tree stump. "Lionel!"

"Richard?" he murmured without even trying to turn toward me.

"Come on. I'm getting you out of here, along with everyone else in the pack."

He chuckled and spat out a glob of blood. "No. No you're not. I'm spent. Done. Dead. I won't make it." He coughed wetly and spat out more blood. "You should go. When the hunter finally arrives, we're both dead. At least you have a chance to live. Heck, I can't even stand properly, any more."

That was when I noticed that his right rear leg, hidden from view, had been bitten so hard that the femur had shattered. "I'm still getting you out of here, even if I have to carry you."

Then we both heard the loud metallic click of a rifle bolt being drawn back to chamber a new round. We both looked to see a single hunter with a Springfield 1903, a bolt-action rifle that had once served as the U.S. military's sniper rifle. "When he fires, jump him. He won't have time to chamber another round," Lionel mumbled through the blood pooling in his mouth as he slowly and painfully dragged himself into a near-standing position.

"What are you—?" I didn't have time to finish my question. Lionel made a one-legged leap at the hunter, who reflexively fired. The bullet entered his nose and came out at the base of his neck before going into his back. He dropped like a stone at the hunter's feet. That gave me a momentary opening. I leapt as the human raised the bolt; I landed on him as he drew it back. My impact knocked away his weapon, and I opened my jaws to tear away his throat. I then felt a sharp pain along my side, and I involuntarily yelped in pain. I looked and saw that the hunter had drawn a large knife and neatly sliced open about five inches of my flank. Before he could slash again, I bit down, my sharp teeth easily parting the flesh. I stepped off to allow the human to choke on his own blood.

Lionel groaned. His eyes fluttered open for a second before closing again and he slurred, "You done good." Then he died.

I cried and dragged the body back to the caravan. Once there, my wound was tended to, and we gave Lionel a funeral fit for a head Alpha. As the pack began to move on, I told them, "You go on ahead. I will catch up in a moment." I then extended my first toe and began to write an epitaph for the brother I never really knew. I then sang the same song I had begun to sing when I mourned my mom, changing key words to change it from first-person to second-person point-of-view. When I finished, I turned to rejoin the pack procession, hanging my head.

I then heard a chorus of mourning howls a very short distance away. I looked up and saw the entire pack howling for Lionel. I smiled at the fact that he had redeemed himself. We continued on after I joined in the howl.


	11. Off We Go

Chapter 11

We walked southeast for several days, searching for human transportation to expedite our journey. I brought up the rear every day, sitting away from the others when we rested as I mourned my eldest brother's death.

At one point, the entire pack stopped at the edge of a clearing. I barely noticed and kept walking. I did notice when a stone skipped off the ground between my forelegs. I looked up just in time to dodge a second stone. Stepping out of the line of fire, I crouched low and crawled forward to find out who it was that was throwing rocks at us. After cresting an incline, I saw who it was and smiled. I turned back and stated, "It is all right. It is one of my old friends."

As I pulled myself over the peak of the incline, the rest of the pack gathered just below, staying hidden while peering across the clearing. I walked up to the red-furred creature just as he drew back for another swing. His goose companion saw me and shouted, "Wolf!" before flapping away to land in a tree.

The fox looked up, scared witless, but his expression changed the instant he saw me. "It's alright Eustace. I know this one." He padded up to me and gave me a small hug. "What are you doing up here, Outcast?"

"It's been a long time since we parted in Yellowstone, Brandon." I waved to the pack, which slowly came up over the incline. "I have earned my name now. Jeremiah."

His eyes widened. "So, you have your own pack now?"

"No. I found a pack willing to accept me." I turned toward the head Alpha. "Dad. This is Brandon, a fox who helped me slip through the territory of several wolf packs in Yellowstone during my 'lone wolf' years. Brandon, this is my father, Church."

"Pleasure to meet you," Brandon replied as he held out his paw for a shake. Reluctantly, my father returned the paw-shake. "So, what brings you out here? With your entire pack."

"We're trying to get to Jasper Park," Garth stated impatiently.

"Who's the prick?"

Garth stepped forward, teeth bared, but I stopped him by putting my foreleg across his chest. "Garth. Play nice." When he backed off, I explained, "Garth, his mate Lilly, my girlfriend Heather, and myself are members of the Central Pack of Jasper Park. And, as Garth rather rudely pointed out, we are trying to get back. My father, knowing that his pack is too small to fend off rivals and hunters, is bringing them to Jasper to unite them with the Central Pack."

"Wow. Hmm. Care to play a round of golf?"

"Any other day, I would love to. But we are on a rather tight schedule and we do not want to travel for any longer than we need to."

"Well, if speed is of essence, then I can be of assistance," he replied with a smile befitting his species' nature. He whistled and called, "Eustace, come here." When his caddie arrived beside him, he pulled out his driver and leaned on it as an old man would his cane. "Well, there are very few roads that lead from Glacier Bay to Jasper. The main one parallels the oil pipelines. That will be your best bet for getting home quickly. However, not all of you will be able to get on the route at once."

"Any alternates?" My father asked. I knew the fact that he next voiced. "I cannot bear to separate my pack."

"There is the Canadian Express, but you'll have to walk a while to reach the nearest station."

"We'll take it," Heather replied. "Where is the nearest station?"

"Follow me," Brandon finished as he handed his driver back to Eustace and began walking toward the Alaska-Canada border.

I ran up beside him and whispered a question to him. When he nodded in the affirmative, I asked a second question. When the second affirmative answer came, I whispered my third question, glancing over my shoulder at Heather. He followed my glance, gave me a wink, silently called Eustace over, and whispered my request into his caddie's ear. With a nod, the goose took off and headed south, toward the American Midwest.

I dropped back, my plan having been set in motion, and my father got my attention. "You said that this guy is a fox; why does he not look like any fox I have seen?"

"He was someone's illegal pet at one point, stolen from the other side of the world when he was a kit."

"Where exactly is he from?"

"Tibet. Thus, humans call his species 'Tibetan sand foxes.'"

"Hmm, that's interesting," the old head-Alpha said, ending that line of discussion. "By the way, you have my consent to wed."

"Wha-? I never asked…"

"Oh, you certainly did. Not with words, but with deeds. I have seen the way you act around Heather. You are completely smitten with her. I bet that your conversation with Brandon was about her."

I quickly glanced over at Heather, making sure that she couldn't hear our conversation, and replied, "Yeah, it was. I was requesting a certain flower from down south."

"I'm glad for you, son."

"Thanks, Dad."

We continued on until we saw lights. Brandon ordered, "Wait here. I'm gonna check how much longer we have to wait." Then he slunk toward the lights. A few minutes later, he came back and said, "We don't have much time if you want to catch the train tonight. Follow me." He led us right to the boarding platform. "When I say so, sprint to the nearest open car. You'll only have a few minutes once the train stops." A minute later, we heard the train's whistle. "Get ready." Twenty seconds later, the train pulled into the station. "Go!"

The entire Northeast Glacier Bay Pack dashed across the platform and hopped into the third car and hid behind a few hay bales. That was when I noticed something. "Hey Brandon. Are you not coming?"

"I'm not exactly popular in Canada."

"Come on." When he shook his head, I sighed, "Fine. We will do this the hard way." I zipped out and grabbed Brandon before he could react.

As I turned around, the train began to move. I rushed forward and tossed the fox into the open car just as I ran out of platform. I heard him grunt with the impact as I thudded against the ground. "Get up, Jer!" Heather yelled. I got up and sprinted for the car as the train continued to accelerate. "Hurry up!"

I then saw the true reason for her concern. It wasn't necessarily the speed of the train, which I could match easily, but it was the fact that we were nearing a ravine-crossing bridge. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me," I groaned as I pushed my legs to move faster. Five feet away and with only a foot remaining before I would fall over the edge of the ravine, I jumped.


	12. Homecoming

Chapter Twelve

I landed just short of the floor of the car and grabbed the door as I slid. Immediately, several sets of paws and jaws grabbed my forelegs and pulled. As I fell forward and collapsed onto the floor of the car, I muttered, "Thanks, guys."

I then felt a cloth get pressed to my thigh and tied there with bailing wire. The skin underneath stung as if it was on fire. "Get some rest, Jer. It'll help you heal."

"Fine," I replied as I lay down on some of the straw in the car. Sleep quickly claimed me. The next morning, I awoke with almost no pain and decided to peek under the bandage. I had cut the jump far closer than I had wanted. A good three-inch by three-inch section of the skin had been shorn away; I had apparently been scraped along one of the trestles of the bridge.

I heard giggling and quickly recovered the wound, but I found that the giggling was not directed at me. In one corner of the car, Lilly was doing more of her turtle impressions, but I could tell that she was beginning to run out of material.

I chuckled quietly and fell asleep again. I awoke hours later to an odd sound. *Whock* "What on Earth?"

*Whock* I looked up to see Brandon with his driver behind his back, watching a stone slowly shrink into the distance. "Whoo! That was a good one." He turned around. "Ah, look who's awake." He looked toward Heather and, seeing that she was still asleep, reached into his golf bag and added in a whisper, "Here's your flower," His paw came out clutching the stem of a gold-and-pink-with-a-ruddy-brown-center flower. "Just like you asked."

"And the guy who delivered it?"

He pointed at a coyote who slept almost completely buried in the straw. "Keeping out of sight, for his own safety," he whispered.

"Did Eustace tell him of the role I want him to take?"

Brandon nodded. "Certainly."

I patted his shoulder. "Thanks, old friend."

The rest of the ride went uneventfully. With our leap off the train in Jasper Park, we began our trip back to the Central Park's territory. Heather, Lilly, Garth, and I led the way, going at my wounded pace. The first local wolf who ran into us was Hutch, who immediately ran up to the four of us and stated, "Thank the gods that you're all right." Then he looked past us to the rest of my dad's pack and began growling.

"Easy, Hutch. This is my father's pack. They wish to join us."

He eyed the group with suspicion before my father, his pack following suit a moment later, dropped into a submissive posture. "Fine. Follow me." He led us to the main gathering area for the Western half of the pack and ordered, "Wait here."

He walked into the head-Alpha den and walked out a moment later with Winston in tow. What happened next caught us all by surprise. The old head-Alpha saw my father, who, with a look of incredulity and a voice to match, asked, "Winston?"

"Church?" Winston replied with the same expression and voice.

"It is you!" my father cried as he rushed forward to hug the Western Alpha. "I thought you were dead."

"And I, you," Winston stammered.

"Dad? How do you know Winston?"

"Back when we were pups, we were the best of friends."

"Yes. Then I got darted and transported to here."

"Hey, Winston, let's catch each other up on our histories. Especially how you became a head-Alpha."

"I would love to, Church. After all, I could ask the same head-Alpha question about you."

As the two old wolves walked off to reminisce about old times, I quietly tapped Heather on the shoulder and led her off to a quiet, secluded area. Once we were where I deemed that no one would see us, I turned and spoke. "Traditionally, when two packs permanently unite, there is a marriage between members of each pack. Also, at least among humans, the proposal of marriage is accompanied by a gift." At those words, I reached up into my mane and pulled out the flower. "Heather, daughter of Lilly and Garth, would you do me the honor of offering me your hand in marriage?"

The response I received was partially what I expected. Almost before I finished my proposal, she pounced on me, knocking me completely over onto my back and touching her nose to mine. "Yes. 'Till the end of eternity, yes," she murmured.

I slid the flower into her mane at the spot where her ear met the rest of her head and replied, "Thank you, my love." I don't remember how long we lay there, but I distinctly remember her falling asleep on my chest. Soon after, I fell asleep, myself, thinking about the new life ahead of me. _'Course, I have to make sure that Eve doesn't kill me for this…or worse._


	13. Unity Through Love

Chapter 13

I don't know how many hours we were asleep, but, when I woke up, I somehow sensed another presence in the clearing with us. I looked up, and there was Lloyd, laying down and watching with an approving expression around his remaining eye. Once he saw that I was awake, he got up and walked out of the clearing.

Heather woke up a few minutes later. "Morning, handsome," she said as she licked my muzzle.

I smiled and replied, "Morning, beautiful." I gently rolled onto my side, getting her off of my belly and continued, "Now comes the second-hardest part of preparing for our wedding: breaking the news to your mom and grandma."

She gulped and replied, "Yeah, I don't know how Eve will react."

We both got up and walked over to the head-alphas' den. "Eve? Winston?"

They both came out, along with my dad, and Eve asked, "What is it?"

I cleared my throat and stated, "I have asked for Heather's paw in marriage and she has granted it."

The old female's fur bristled for a second before it flattened again and she said, "Well, I am not responsible for the life of my granddaughter the way I am for my daughters. Enjoy yourself, dear."

I let out the breath I had been holding and thanked Eve. We then walked out and moved to deliver the news to Lilly and Garth. When we did, Garth spaced out for a moment before fainting, apparently surprised that his little girl was already getting married. Lilly, on the other hand, rushed up to her daughter and hugged her. "I'm so proud for you both. Heather, let's get you ready."

"Mom! We weren't planning on getting married **tomorrow**! We were going to spend a bit of time preparing."

"Right, right. I was just getting a little ahead of myself," Lilly admitted as she blushed.

Heather patted her mother on the head and replied, "I know." She then turned to me and said, "Come on, Jer. We have the rest of the pack to tell."

By the time morning came, there was not one wolf in either pack that did not know about the wedding.

The three days we had given ourselves to work out our nervousness passed quickly. On the wedding day, Humphrey had elected to give me the final preparations I needed for the wedding, namely the cosmetic preparations. As he used a pinecone to comb my fur, I asked, "So, I haven't seen a single proper wolf wedding. Could you tell me how it works?"

"Well," he mumbled around the cone. "The bride and groom walk up to the traditional place, sniff each other to accept each other's scent, nibble each other's ear, and, finally, rub noses to seal the deal."

"Not too much difference to human weddings, then."

"Heh, I guess not."

"Any exchange of pledges?"

"None that I know of." He finished combing the tip of my tail, spit out the pinecone, and announced, "There. You look perfect."

"Ah, I preferred the look you had adopted as a lone wolf," said a new voice.

We both turned and saw the coyote walking up toward us, watching Humphrey warily. "Glad you decided to attend, José."

"Hey, once you are married, I'm gone, _lobo_."

"Um, Jeremiah? Who is this?" Humphrey asked.

"Humphrey, José. José, Humphrey." The two of them shook paws. "José was one of the many animals who helped me during my travels."

"Like that golfing fox?"

"Yeah. Speaking of Brandon, where is he?"

"He's challenged Marcel to a one-on-one mini-tournament. They're on their ninth hole."

"Lovely. I would guess that he would be unable to attend."

"Yep."

I sighed. Their love of golf would suck some of their lives away. "Well, let's go. I do not want to be late for my own wedding."

We walked down to the wedding rock, joining up with my father's pack on the way, and I saw the entire Central Pack approaching behind Heather. When we were both standing on the rock, we nodded and I asked, "Do you want to start, or will we begin together?"

"Together."

I smiled and took a half-step forward, lowering my head to sniff behind her right foreleg, noticing that she did the same. I got at least that step right. I sniffed three times until I was absolutely sure that her scent would stay with me. At that point, we both pulled back, and then I took a quarter-step forward and gently placed my teeth on both sides of her right ear. I felt that she did the same; a little firmer grip, but otherwise the same. We released each other's ears and stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds before we closed our eyes, leaned forward, and touched noses. As our noses touched, both packs began to howl in joy. This was the second time two packs had been united in just a year. "I love you," Heather and I whispered in unison.


End file.
